In the interest of keeping Henry County residents informed, the Henry County Sheriff’s office has requested KILJ post the daily jail count. During the jail referendum campaign it was publicized that the jail would be able to house additional inmates from surrounding counties and this would generate revenue for Henry County.
Henry County Jail
Date: ____9-29-2021_____
JAIL COUNT
30_ Henry County Inmates
39_ Out of County Contract Inmates
69 TOTAL
William “Bill” Robert Sickels 61 of Birmingham passed away on Monday September 27, 2021 at Van Buren County Hospital. Graveside service will be at 11:00 AM Friday October 1, 2021 at Maple Hill Cemetery East of Birmingham with Leon Surbaugh officiating. Lunch will follow the service at Birmingham City Park, guests are invited to bring a dish if they would like. Memorials to EveryStep Hospice may be left at the graveside service or mailed to the family at P.O. Box 143, Birmingham, IA 52535.
Bill was born on December 22, 1959 in Ottumwa to John William Sr. and Barbara Jean Thompson Sickels. He spent his childhood on the family farm south of Douds and attended Douds Elementary and graduated from Van Buren High School in the class of 1978. Shortly after graduation he met Lorie Ann Crafton and they were married on September 26, 1981 at the Birmingham Methodist Church. Bill and Lorie lived in the Birmingham and Stockport areas. He loved working on cars and was a mechanic for much of his life. He started his career at Hervey Implement in Keosauqua where he worked for 16 years. He later was a mechanic at Smithburg Automotive and then at RPM Automotive both in Fairfield. He then went into the manufacturing business and worked at Barker Wire in Keosauqua and then at Dexter in Fairfield until he was diagnosed with cancer and was forced to stop working. Bill enjoyed fishing with family and friends, hunting morel mushrooms, hunting, jigsaw puzzles, old cars were his passion, most of all he loved spending time with family and friends especially his granddaughter, Teagan.
Left to cherish his memory are his mother, Barbara of Eldon and wife Lorie of Birmingham, a son, Dustin of Birmingham, three brothers, John Sickels Jr (Rhonda) of Muscatine, David Sickels (Trudy) of Stuart, Iowa and Murl Sickels (Jennifer) of Gentry, Arkansas, three sisters, Deborah Surbaugh (Leon) of Krum, Texas, Linda Bates of Des Moines and Kaye Gilbert (Stuart)of Stockport and a granddaughter, Teagan Sickels of Birmingham. He was preceded in death by his father, John Sickels Sr., father-in-law, Leonard Crafton and mother-in-law, Shirley Crafton.
Henry County Public Health is updating details for receiving flu and COVID-19 vaccines. The flu vaccine is now available on a walk-in basis during regular immunization clinics: Tuesdays 9-11am, Wednesdays and Thursdays 1-4pm, and the 1st and 3rd Thursday 1-6pm. All regular vaccines remain available during those clinic times also. The flu vaccine is $35 unless they can bill your insurance so bring your insurance card. Public Health asks that you check-in online before you come if you are able to by visiting HealthyHenryCounty.org/immunizations. They will alert you when it is time to come inside to reduce waiting room traffic.
Public Health also continues to give the Moderna and J&J COVID-19 vaccine to anyone 18 and older at no cost. Booster shots for those vaccines have not yet been approved by the CDC so these are only 1st and 2nd doses. For now, these vaccines are available on a walk-in basis Monday – Friday 8am-3:30pm. However, once the CDC approves the Moderna or J&J booster shots, all COVID-19 vaccines will switch to be on an appointment basis at off-site clinics. There is no waiting list for the booster shots. Watch for updates and links to the online sign-ups at HealthyHenryCounty.org/covid or Facebook.com/HealthyHenryCounty.
Public Health is located at 106 N. Jackson St. in Mt. Pleasant. Masks are required, they ask that you limit additional family members not receiving vaccines, and please stay home if you or your child are sick. They have a small waiting room, so these safety measures are in place to protect everyone coming to Public Health. For more information or if you have questions call Public Health at 319-385-0779.
Last Thursday Mount Pleasant School Board President Jennifer Crull consulted with Supt. John Henriksen and asked for the district to conduct a survey regarding a possible mask mandate. A survey was sent to parents and staff asking the simple question, “Should the school district implement a mask mandate?” A total of 858 surveys came back by 8 am Monday. Of the 648 responses from parents 69% said no to a mandate. About 75% of the employees said no to a mask mandate and from the group of employees that are also parents 68% said no. This information was shared with the public at a board work session Monday night. The High School media center was almost half full with parents and a couple students. There were 12 parents who spoke against a mandate and five spoke in favor of a mandate. Those in favor cited health concerns for children under 12 who right now can’t be vaccinated. Other comments….the data doesn’t support a mask mandate, wearing masks isn’t the best learning environment and can cause disruption in the classroom. By far the opinion expressed the most was that this should be a parents choice. The board was also urged to rely on the collected from each building every day data to make a local decision.
On September 20, at approximately 3:15 pm, Lee County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched near the area of mile marker 265 on Highway 61 in the southbound lanes to investigate a two car accident. Deputies arrived on scene and found the southbound lanes blocking traffic. There was a hay wagon that had been pulled by one of the vehicles on its side. James Walljasper of Montrose said he was driving south bound in the outermost lane on Highway 61, pulling the hay wagon. Walljsper said he saw the other vehicle quickly approaching the rear of his wagon. According to Walljasper the other driver, James Karaff of Donnellson, attempted to swerve at the last second, but that vehicle hit the wagon causing it to disconnect and then impact the side of the vehicle. Karaff was cited for following too close.
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Provided by Justin Glisan, Ph.D., State Climatologist, Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship
The last full week of September brought a mix of unseasonably cool and warm days to Iowa. Overall average temperatures were warmer east and near-normal to cooler west. The statewide average temperature was 61.1 degrees, 1.9 degrees above normal. All of Iowa’s weather stations reported measurable precipitation, though rainfall deficits persisted with up to 0.50 inch reported at many central and southwestern gauges; above-average totals were observed in several pockets across Iowa. Strong southerly winds and sunny skies lifted daytime highs in the upper 80s and low 90s on Sunday (19th) afternoon with a statewide average high at 88 degrees, 14 degrees above normal. Clouds increased through the nighttime hours as a strong cold front entered northwestern Iowa during the early morning hours of Monday (20th). An initial line of showers formed and proceeded into central Iowa before dissipating as it moved into a drier atmosphere. With higher humidity and afternoon highs in the mid 80s in front of the boundary, a secondary line of thunderstorms fired in west-central Iowa and pushed across the state. Some of the thunderstorms became severe with several occurrences of straight-line winds producing tree damage. As the line filled in, widespread rain was reported at a majority of Iowa’s stations with general totals above 0.30 inch. Almost 60 stations measured more than an inch with several stations in Des Moines County reporting over 2.00 inches; a gauge in Burlington observed 3.00 inches. Clouds quickly cleared through the late evening hours and cooler air filtered in behind the front along with northerly winds. Overnight lows on Tuesday (21st) morning ranged from the low 40s northwest to upper 50s southeast. Pleasant conditions persisted through the day with highs in the upper 60s and low 70s under mostly sunny skies. Chilly temperatures were observed overnight with mid to upper 30s in western Iowa where starry skies were present before sunrise; slightly warmer conditions blanketed eastern Iowa with light northerly winds. Wednesday (22nd) continued the comfortable conditions with variable winds and highs hovering in the upper 60s and low 70s. Temperatures cooled into the upper 30s and 40s over much of the state with clear skies and a light, variable wind. Thursday (23rd) was a sunny and breezy day with winds shifting to a southerly direction as a high pressure center pushed into Iowa. Afternoon conditions were ideal with highs in the low to mid 70s and low relative humidity. Clear skies continued into Friday (24th) morning with upper 40s and low 50s blanketing the state. Clouds began building up in northwestern Iowa during the late morning hours as a cold front approached Iowa. Light rain showers formed along the front as it raced west to east, clearing eastern Iowa late in the evening. While the rain was widespread, totals were at or below 0.30 inch with a majority of stations reporting accumulations below 0.10 inch; Fort Dodge (Webster County) observed 0.24 inch while Lamoni (Decatur County) measured 0.30 inch. With colder air pushing in behind the front, freezing temperatures were reported for the first time this fall as lows dipped into the 30s west to mid 40s east; the statewide average low was 40 degrees, eight degrees below average. Brilliant sunshine and westerly winds were observed on Saturday (25th) as Iowa experienced near-seasonal temperatures. Winds shifted to a southerly direction overnight into Sunday (26th) with temperatures remaining in the 50s. Weekly rain totals ranged from 0.01 inch at Bedford (Taylor County) to 3.04 inches in Burlington. The statewide weekly average precipitation was 0.53 inch while the normal is 0.82 inch. Muscatine (Muscatine County) observed the week’s high temperature of 94 degrees on the 19th, 18 degrees above normal. Atlantic (Cass County), Audubon (Audubon County) and Guthrie Center (Guthrie County) reported the week’s low temperature of 32 degrees on the 25th, on average 14 degrees below normal. |
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On September 25th, at approximately 4:52PM the Henry County Sheriff’s Office took a report of a motor vehicle accident that took place in the 3100 grid of Marsh Avenue. After an investigation, it was found that Michael Hoelscher of New London, Iowa, was driving a passenger vehicle and while attempting to turn onto 310th Street from Marsh Avenue lost control of the vehicle causing it to enter the ditch. The vehicle was estimated to be totaled and no injuries were reported.
